


Tabula Rasa

by Triskel_Samulet



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Derek and Peter are not related, FBI Agent Stiles Stilinski, First Meetings, Human Trafficking, Inspired by Dollhouse, M/M, Mind Manipulation, Personality Swap, Prostitution kind of, Rape/Non-con Elements, Warning: Kate Argent, everything is not what it seems, not grafic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:41:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29347551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Triskel_Samulet/pseuds/Triskel_Samulet
Summary: FBI agent Stiles Stilinski is hot on the trail of the elusive Dollhouse, a place where they replace the personalities of people at the whims of the rich and powerful. In his search, he finds the true identity of one of the dolls, Derek Hale.Will he be able to bring Derek back from his tabula rasa state, or is the man already too far gone to be helped?
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Other Minor Relationships, Scott McCall/Kira Yukimura
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Like I said, this is inspired by Dollhouse (2009). With that, characters will often believe they are other people and the narration will use those names instead of the character name. There will be a list at the end of each chapter with the Teen Wolf characters and the various names they have throughout each chapter. This lists contain potential spoilers for who is a doll, so don't read the end notes if you care about that.

Stiles knew he was getting close. He tracked down Javier Ramirez to a seedy club and he was going to make his move today. Ramirez was a member of the cartel and Stiles would bet his life on the fact that they were connected to the Dollhouse

Within the past five years, rumors of the Dollhouse had only spread. It was a place where the rich and powerful could buy a person for a limited amount of time, and that person would be anyone they wanted them to be. Apparently there was tech out there that could wipe someone’s mind and replace it with a whole new personality.

If this was true, then the Dollhouse was the biggest and worst trafficking ring in the United States, maybe even the world. Stiles was the FBI Agent tasked with proving that this place existed and taking it down.

He looked at Javier from across the room. He had a mop of dark hair on top of his head and a crooked jaw. He was working the room quite well, but there was an awkwardness about him, like he thought he was a bigger deal than he actually was. This would work well for Stiles’ plans.

Javier got up to go to the restroom and Stiles followed him. Thankfully they were alone.

Stiles cocked his gun and put it against Javier’s head.

“What is it? What do you want?” Javier asked.

“The Dollhouse,” Stiles started, “What do you know?”

“Dollhouse?” His Mexican accent was thick, making him a little hard to understand, “Like Barbies and Polly Pockets?”

“No, like human trafficking.” Stiles growled out. He had been on this case for almost a year with no results. This was the last real lead he had. If this didn’t pan out, he didn’t know what the FBI would do.

“I know nothing about that.” Javier insisted.

Stiles pressed his gun harder against his temple, “You’re cartel, and my intel says you’re involved.”

“We traffic drugs, not people.”

“Well, I’m going to let you go,” Stiles lowered his gun, “You are going to find out what the cartel knows, then in a week, we are going to meet up again and you are going to tell me everything. Otherwise I will track you down and take you to FBI headquarters myself.”

He put the gun away and flicked a business card at Javier before leaving the club.

Stiles had no idea how many people were trapped in the Dollhouse, but this was his last chance to save them.

**Two Year Ago:**

Derek Hale paced around the spacious office.

“All you have to do is sign here. It’s only five years and to you it will feel like an instant.” Parrish said.

“Oh yeah, five years of people doing god knows what to my body,” Derek rolled his eyes, “No!”

“I don’t think you have much of a choice.” Parrish pushed the contract over to Derek.

He downed his glass of scotch in one go before grabbing a pen and signing on the dotted line.

“Believe me, when my five years are over, you are going down.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Parrish smirked, “Now that the paperwork is ready, let me show you the house.”

**Present Day:**

Wolf enjoyed his days at the spa. It gave him a chance to be his best. He tried to be his best in art class, or when he was swimming in the pool, or during yoga.

He had a friend, Beta, but he was gone right now. Wolf missed Beta very much, they were best friends.

The smart man was coming downstairs- he never came downstairs- always watching from above. He had neatly cut, dark brown hair and tan skin. He was an attractive young man, but he unsettled Wolf. His friends would go up and see smart man- Danny, his mind supplied- and they wouldn’t come back for days. They would act differently, too and he didn’t like that.

“Wolf, are you ready for your treatment?” Danny asked.

“Yes, I enjoy my treatments.” Wolf responded.

Wolf followed Danny up to his office. When they got in the office, Wolf noticed an unfamiliar man.

“This is going to be a special treatment,” Danny explained, “You are getting a new friend.”

“I like friends.”

The man smirked, “I’m sure you do.”

He didn’t know why, but he didn’t like this man. There was something familiar about his piercing blue eyes, but he couldn’t place it.

“Wolf, meet Peter. Peter, Wolf,” Danny made the introductions, “Now, Wolf, it’s time to get in the chair for your treatment.”

“I enjoy my treatments.” Wolf said again as he sat in the chair and it reclined back.

Danny rolled his eyes, “I know you do. Now Peter, here is the script, and it would help if you held his hand.”

“I’m not doing that.” Peter stated.

“Physical contact helps solidify the bond,” Danny explained, “He needs to trust you implicitly, so this one time you need to hold his hand.”

Peter showed his obvious displeasure, but grabbed Wolf’s hand anyway, “Everything is going to be alright.”

“Now that you’re here.” Wolf responded.

“Do you trust me?” Peter asked.

“With my life.” Wolf responded.

“And there we have it. You are officially Wolf’s handler, and just in time! He has an assignment.” Danny put a cartridge in the chair and ran the program while Wolf was still there.

When the program was done running, Wolf said, “Where is she? I need to see her.”

“And you’re going to. Peter will take you to her.” Danny smiled.

“What kind of engagement is this?” Peter asked.

“It’s a romantic engagement. I sent the details to your iPad,” Danny explained, “Oh and, Kate can be kind of intense, so don’t let that throw you. She’s a big roller so she can do just about whatever she wants.”

“Peter, please don’t tell my parents where we’re going! They can’t know about us!” Wolf begged, wait, not Wolf.

Peter looked at his iPad… Ian.

“Don’t worry, Ian, your secret is safe with me. Your parents will never have to know.” Peter assured. Ian gave a sigh of relief and then Peter was ushering him into the elevator.

“I know it’s wrong for us to be together, but I just need to see her!” Ian implored, “I’ve just been so lonely and she likes being around me… at least I hope she does.”

“Ian, how old are you?” Peter asked, looking into the grown man’s eyes.

“I’m sixteen, sir.”

It was impressive that they were able to convince Wolf that he was sixteen. They probably should keep him away from any mirrors, that would be confusing. But it was concerning that this woman asked for a sixteen year old kid. And they had to sneak behind his parent’s back? That was the fantasy? This woman was messed up.

But it wasn’t his job to judge, it was his job to keep Wolf safe when in the field and that was exactly what he was going to do. They got a change of clothes for Ian and then they got in the van. 

They pulled up to a warehouse converted into expensive lofts. It turned out that Kate owned the entire top floor.

“Well, go get her, kid.” Peter smiled at him.

“Thank you for bringing me, sir!” He gave Peter a quick hug before running into the building.

Ian was just so excited. It had been too long since he had seen Kate. He waited anxiously for the elevator to reach the top floor. When it finally got there he went bounding into the main room.

“Kate!” He yelled.

“Well aren’t you just a ball of energy today,” Kate said as she looked him over, “It looks like you’ve grown up a bit since the last time I saw you.”

“Well I don’t know about  _ that _ ,” Ian blushed.

Kate walked over and gave him a kiss, “Come on, let’s go to the bedroom.”

Ian smiled and followed her. It was so nice to feel wanted. He would let her do anything to him if he could keep feeling this way.

When he got back to the van later that night, he was exhausted. He had rope burn on his wrists, bruises all over his body, and even some electric burns. He managed to keep it together until he was in the van, but the tears couldn’t be stopped anymore.

“I don’t want to go back,” Ian choked out, “I thought she loved me but she just wants to hurt me.”

“It’s ok. I won’t make you go back,” Peter said, “Would you like a treatment?”

“I enjoy my treatments.” Ian said between sobs.

Peter banged on the barrier between them and the driver and they started making their way back to the center.

The wipe couldn’t come soon enough. Peter finally got Ian in the chair and Danny worked the wipe as quickly as he could.

“Did I fall asleep?” Wolf asked.

“For a little while.” Danny responded.

“Shall I go now?” Wolf asked.

“If you like.” Danny answered, “I would recommend going to see Dr. Deaton before continuing with your other activities.

As soon as wolf was out the door, Peter turned to Danny and gave him his most intimidating glares, “You made him do  _ that? _ ” He spat, “I understand fulfilling sexual fantasies, but he was a sixteen year old kid and he came back with severe injuries. I thought we were supposed to care for these people!”

“We do,” Danny insisted, “He’s never come back from Kate that banged up before. I mean, we all know she likes it rough, but I’m not the one who approves these, I just run the program. You’ll have to take it up with Parrish.”

“Oh believe me, I will.” Peter growled before leaving.

Downstairs, Wolf was making his way to Dr. Deaton. He liked Deaton, she was nice, although she had these big scars on her chest and neck. It made Wolf wonder if she could be her best, but then again she was a very kind, attentive doctor, so he figured she was her best despite the scars. That was comforting to him right now as he was noticing injuries he didn’t have before. Were they going to become scars like Dr. Deaton had?

“Hello, Wolf,” Deaton greeted with a big smile, “I heard you had a big day.”

“I try to be my best.” Wolf stated.

“Well, let’s have a seat on the exam table and we can see what we’re dealing with.” Dr. Deaton was so nice. He noticed that she had her hair down today. It looked like she was trying to use her hair to hide her scars.

“You don’t have to do that.” Wolf said as he sat down.

“Do what?” She asked as she snapped some gloved on and started examining him.

“You don’t have to hide your scars,” Wolf stated, “I think they help make you your best.”

“Well, thank you, Wolf,” She gave him a shy smile, “It looks like you’ve got some burns today.”

“I don’t remember that happening,” He knew he should be concerned. He had been majorly injured and he couldn’t remember it, “Did I hit my head, too?”

Dr. Deaton hesitated, she never hesitated, “That must be it.”

She started rubbing salve over the burns, but never checked his head. He knew there was something she wasn’t telling him, but he also knew he wasn’t supposed to have as many questions as he did.

The others in the center never had questions; they never wondered. All they did was go from yoga to swimming to art to treatments. They accepted it and went with the peaceful flow of life here, but sometimes Derek wondered. Sometimes he felt a little too empty and then he would notice the vacant stares of his friends.

As he left Dr. Deaton, he noticed some flashes from Danny’s office. These were not the flashes from a normal treatment, something was wrong.

Normally he was not allowed to go upstairs unless he was being brought up for a treatment, but he was curious and no one was watching him. So he ascended the stairs and peaked through the crack in the partially closed door.

Inside, there was a young woman strapped down to the treatment chair and there were needles sticking out of her everywhere. She was calling out in pain.

Then people were looking at him and shouting. He didn’t understand what was going on. Then Danny grabbed his arm and started bringing him downstairs.

“That woman is in pain.” Wolf noted.

“Yes, that’s why we’re helping her.” Danny explained, “Once she’s all better, you will have a new friend! Yay!”

Wolf could tell Danny wasn’t really as excited as he pretended to be, but he knew this was supposed to make him happy, so he smiled and said, “I like my friends.”

“Yes, I know you do,” Danny smiled, “Why don’t you take some laps in the pool?”

Wolf nodded and made his way to the pool area, but he couldn’t help looking back at the flickering lights as Danny went back into his office. Something was wrong, but he wasn’t even sure what  _ wrong _ was.

Stiles made his way back to the club where he had first met Javier. The other man had texted to meet him here tonight, said he had information about the dollhouse. He wasn’t sure he was reliable, but it’s the only lead he had at the moment, so he had no choice but to move forward with this informant.

When he arrived, he found Javier sitting at the end of the bar. Stiles took the seat next to him.

“What did you find out?”

“You aren’t one for pleasantries, are you?” Javier asked. When Stiles just stared him down, he continued, “Alright, alright. I found out that two of the guys, Jose and Pedro, they are involved in this dollhouse. They help bring them medical supplies or something like that. You can find them tonight at this address.”

Javier pushed a napkin over to Stiles. He opened it up and sure enough there was an address on it.

“Any idea what time they are going to be there?”

“Not a clue,” Javier raised his hands, as if he was clean from this mess, “That is all I could get in the time frame you gave me.”

“Good work,” Stiles complimented, “Let me know if you hear anything else. These guys are going down.”

“Anything else?” Javier asked, “You mean we are not done here?”

“You’re my informant,” Stiles told him with a smirk, “You keep feeding me good intel, I keep you out of jail, that’s the deal.”

He left before he could hear Javier’s rebuttal, although he doubted the man was smart enough to come up with something.

He got in his car and stopped for some chinese take out before making it to the address. He was planning on a long stakeout.

It ended up not being that long. The guys were already moving the supplies into their van when he arrived. He moved quickly to try and take them down, but he was outnumbered and outmatched.

“Stay away from the dollhouse.” One of them growled before leaving him beaten and bloody on the side of the road.

That just made Stiles smile though, because they were scared. They had confirmed their existence and that he was on the right track. Already they were trying intimidation tactics, he could feel it, the dollhouse was in his cross hairs.

Unfortunately, the Bureau didn’t feel the same way.

“You were reckless!” Agent McCall yelled, “You publicly intimidated a criminal into becoming an unwilling CI-”

“Technically we were the only two in that bathroom so I don’t know how ‘public’ that counts as.” Stiles tried to lighten the mood, but could tell his attempts were doomed at failure.

“You went on a dangerous stakeout without alerting the Bureau or calling for backup-”

“I was operating on a limited window of opportunity!” Stiles insisted.

“You are already known as a screw up, kid,” McCall sighed, “One more misstep and you could be out of here for good.”

“I’ll try to be more careful, but the dollhouse is scared-”

“The dollhouse doesn’t exist, Stilinski!” McCall yelled, “You were put on this assignment so you couldn’t get in the way of any actual investigating. The only reason you are still here at all is because I stuck my neck out for you. You were supposed to use this time to lay low and gain a better reputation for yourself. If you can’t even do that, then what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to help people,” Stiles was getting mad, now, “There are people trapped in slavery. They are being used for god knows what. They deserve their freedom. We help with other human trafficking cases, why not this one?”

“Because it’s ridiculous,” McCall shook his head, “The technology doesn’t exist. You can’t wipe someone’s memory and replace it with a whole person. You and I both know it’s impossible. These rumors started to take our focus off real threats. Now, get back to work, Stilinski, and don’t mess up this time.”

Throughout the day, he could hear his co-workers talking and snickering behind his back, but he didn’t let it get to him. He knew he was doing the right thing and he’d be damned if anybody tried to stop him. Even if he was kicked out of the FBI, he’d still investigate on his own, although it was nice to get paid for it.

Finally, he was getting home from work. It had been a long day and he couldn’t wait to kick back with a beer and just forget everything that happened.

As he was unlocking his door, his neighbor across the hall opened her door. Lydia was very kind and smart as a whip, she was attractive and she knew it. She was tall, with brown, bobbed hair and brown eyes. She always made an attempt to look her best and Stiles must say, it did wonders. He had been falling for her since the day she moved in. They hadn’t had any more than casual interactions in the hallway, but he was hoping to change that someday… okay, he was hoping she would change that some day. She seemed like a take charge kind of person.

“I made a lasagna and thought you’d like the leftovers,” She smiled flirtatiously at him as she offered the pan of lasagna.

“Lydia,” Stiles laughed, “In order for it to be left overs, you need to have eaten some.”

“Well then, since I obviously haven’t eaten yet, why don’t you invite me over to share this delicious meal with you?”

She winked. She even _goddamned_ _winked_ as she said that. She was so smooth and he was a little bit in love.

He smiled and gestured for her to come inside. He pointed her in the direction of plates and silverware before he excused himself to get cleaned up.

When he entered his bedroom, he saw a manila envelope with his name on it sitting on his pillow. Someone had been in his apartment!

He did a quick sweep, which made Lydia question what was going on, but he just ignored her. When he came up with nothing, he went back to the envelope.

Inside was a picture of an attractive man with dark hair and hazel green eyes with the words “find him” written on the back. There was also a dvd with the same words. He played it and saw a video of the man goofing off with friends and all around having a fun time. He seemed sarcastic and grouchy, but in a way that was obviously hiding his cuddly side.

“Who is that?” Lydia asked as she came up behind him.

“That’s what I need to figure out.”  



	2. Chapter 2

After watching the dvd, Stiles sent Lydia home. He found a plastic baggie to put the envelope and dvd in and he made his way back to the LA office for the FBI. He made a beeline for Agent Martin’s office. She was old enough to be his mom, but she was the best digital forensic analyst the Bureau had.

“Natalie, I’ve got something for you.” He said as he burst into her office.

“And why did you assume I would be here this late?” Natalie asked.

Stiles shrugged, “Neither of us really have lives outside of work. It’s why we get along so well.”

“You overestimate our relationship, Stilinski. I’m just the only one who doesn’t think you’ve lost your mind.”

“Which brings me to why I’m here,” Stiles pulled the bag out of his briefcase, “I found this when I got home.”

“Did you call it in? Get a team to investigate the break in?”

Stiles snorted, “Yeah right. The other agents would probably think I was making this up to try and give validity to my case or something. None of them think this is real. They think anything I say is a joke.”

Natalie looked him up and down. It was clear she knew he was telling the truth, but didn’t like the idea of not properly investigating how this evidence came to be.

“Put on some gloves and take it out.” She finally said.

Stiles gave her a big smile and followed her instructions and soon the video was playing. He and Natalie sat back and watched the carefree man laughing and joking while trying to hold back a smile.

“You think he’s one of the dolls?” She asked.

“That’s what whoever dropped this off thinks,” Stiles responded, “I think I need to follow every lead I get.”

She nodded as she started running his facial and voice recognition software, “This is going to take a while to find a match. I’m going to dust the envelope for prints. I’m assuming you touched it with your bare hands?”

The look she gave him was terrifying. He looked down in shame as he shook his head in an affirmative. She shook her head at him, and it made something inside him feel warm. He hadn’t had a mother figure since his mom died when he was eight. She was always aloof and kind of judgemental, but he could tell she cared. It was a refreshing change from how the other agents treated him.

“You can go home. I’ll call you when it’s done.”

“Nope, I’m staying with you. Someone has to keep you awake while you work,” He pulled a deck of cards out of his pocket, “Wanna play a game of war while we wait?”

Natalie smiled, “You’re on.”

About half an hour later they were still in round one of their game (seriously, why does war last so long? And why do people forget that it can last this long?). Finally one of the monitors went off with an alert, telling them that one of the tests came back with results.

“We have a match,” Natalie said as she settled into her desk chair, “There was nothing for the voice match, but that’s not unusual. The fingerprints are still searching, but that typically takes a few days. But facial recognition came up with a 98% match, which is as good as this test gets.”

“So who is he?” Stiles asked as he put a hand on the back on her chair and looked over her shoulder.

“His name is Derek Hale,” She said, “He went missing two years ago with no leads. It looks like he has a little bit of a record. It seems he was a bit of an extremist when it came to human rights activism.”

“If he was a human rights activist, then he was probably looking into the dollhouse-trying to find a way to take them down. It’s possible they got to him before he could fulfill that dream.”

“It’s definitely a possibility,” Natalie mused, “But he could also be a random runaway. Maybe he got tired of always needing a cause. Maybe he found out the dollhouse didn’t exist and just gave up.”

“Do you really think I’m wasting my time?” When no answer came he continued, “Either way, I’m going to find him and I’m going to find the truth about the dollhouse, myth or not.”

“And that’s why I admire you so much. If you need anything in your search, I’ll be here for you. I’ll call you when the prints come back.”

Stiles nodded and started out of the room, he really needed some sleep, “Oh and Stiles? Derek was most recently a student at UCLA. I’d check there first.”

“Thanks, Nat.” He gave her a warm smile before leaving for the night. It was nice to have someone on his side, even if she didn’t believe as much as Stiles did. After a good night's sleep, he’d head to UCLA and look for any trace of Derek Hale.

Tad’s green eyes scanned the room until they found their target. Jackson Whittmore, the rich party boy and birthday boy. He was in the middle of the crowd being celebrated by those around him, but it was Tad’s turn now.

He didn’t know why- maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was because he hadn’t gotten laid in a while- but Jackson was fucking hot. He normally didn’t swing that way, but this guy was definitely everybody’s type.

He grabbed two drinks and made his way through the crowd. As he got closer to Jackson, the crowd parted. He knew he looked intimidating with his permanent five o’clock shadow and leather jacket and he did his best to live up to those looks.

He handed Jackson his drink and the other man smiled at him, “What do you say to a race?”

Tad cocked his head, but followed Jackson outside. In front of the frat house sat two brand new racing motorcycles. They weren’t really his thing, so he couldn’t say the make and model of them, but he did know they were expensive.

“Bet I could wipe the floor with you.” Jackson said.

Tad looked him up and down, “Winner tops.”

Jackson smirked and then gave him the directions for the race, which would take them all around campus, even cutting through some pedestrian only places. It was going to be a challenge and Tad couldn’t be happier. He always loved the rush of doing something dangerous.

He put his helmet on and he and Jackson revved their engine. Some random sorority girl came out and waved the flag for them to start and Jackson took off.

He drove around groups of students coming back late to their dorms or leaving the library. It was such a rush. He even saw one guy drop a taco out of shock. He had never felt so alive.

He looked behind himself to try and gage where Jackson was, but in his distraction he ended up driving into the nearby forest and off the agreed upon path. By the time he realized what was happening, he had run into a tree and was knocked unconscious.

Peter was sitting in the van, trying to finish his crossword puzzle. He was very unconcerned about the current engagement. He was just a date for a frat party. Apparently the young man who bought this date did it last year on his birthday as well and has a standing appointment for this day for the rest of Wolf’s time with the dollhouse.

Peter just wished these engagements could be during the day, though, it was messing with his sleep schedule.

He was just trying to find a nine letter word for “whirlybird” when his monitors started to go crazy. Wolf’s vitals were all over the place. As he was trying to make sense of what the monitors were telling him, his phone went off.

“What.” He answered with a growl.

“What happened to Wolf?” Danny asked.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

“Well, some extra bad news; whatever happened put his tracker offline.”

Peter cursed inwardly, “Do whatever you can on your end to find him. I’ll scour the campus.”

Wolf woke up to the sight of trees and the rising sun. He knew what these things were, but couldn’t remember the last time he had seen them. To be honest, he couldn’t remember anything from outside the center.

There weren’t only trees around him, but there was a heap of metal as well. The metal was on top of his leg and it made him feel pain. The last time he felt pain was when he had those mysterious burns on his chest. Why couldn’t he remember?

He tried to move the metal from his leg, but when he attempted to move, it sent more pain through his leg.

Soon, he saw a man walking down a nearby path. Wolf was covered by bushes, so he couldn’t be seen, but he probably could still be heard.

“Excuse me, could you help me?” Wolf asked.

The man stopped in his tracks and came closer to Wolf.

“It’s you!” The man gasped.

“I’m Wolf. Can you help me?” He looked back at his crushed leg. He didn’t like being stuck.

“Wolf?” The man asked as he started helping move the metal off his leg, “Your name is Derek Hale. You’ve been taken by the dollhouse. Do you know where their base of operation is?”

The words this man was saying were confusing to Wolf, so instead of listening he looked intently at the man. He had the most beautiful brown eyes and brown hair that spiked up, as if he kept running his fingers through it. The man’s expression was tight lipped and his eyebrows were drawn.

“Why are you worried?” Wolf asked.

“I’m worried about you,” The man answered, “Even if I were to get you away from them now you still wouldn’t be you.”

“I feel like me.”

The man looked at him with sad eyes, “You only feel like you because they made you forget who you are. Damn, it really is all real.”

“Get away from him!” Yelled a familiar voice from behind the man.

Wolf looked up and saw Peter running towards them, “Oh there you are Peter.” Wolf smiled, happy to see a familiar face.

The man finally got the metal off of his leg and he stood to face Peter. He pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to Peter.

“This man is coming with me.” The man was very stern. Wolf wasn’t sure he liked it, no matter how attractive the man was.

“On what grounds?” Peter asked.

Wolf tried to stand up, but was unable to put pressure on his leg. He ended up falling into the man, who caught him and was now holding him up.

“On the grounds that he is a missing person,” The man stated, “He’s been missing for two years. He’s coming with me so I can reunite him with his family.”

“Well, I’m his uncle, so his family already found him. We must have forgotten to alert the authorities of his return.” Peter said.

Wolf’s head was starting to hurt. He didn’t remember Peter being his uncle. Sure, he trusted Peter unconditionally, but he didn’t remember even  _ having  _ an uncle.

“Wolf, would you like a treatment?” Peter asked.

“I enjoy my treatments.” He reached out for Peter, but the man held him back.

“What the hell do these ‘treatments’ do to him?” The man asked.

“Agent, I assure you they are completely harmless,” Peter answered, “As he said himself he enjoys his treatments. As you can see, he is getting rather frazzled right now and his treatments help him calm down.”

Peter reached over and grabbed Wolf’s elbow and pulled him towards him. The man let him go, but it was clear he wasn’t happy about it.

“I didn’t catch your name.” The man called after them.

Peter turned slightly and answered, “Peter Hale, of course.”

Stiles was fuming. He finally found a doll. He found Derek Hale! But soon a man who must have been his handler came and took him away. Stiles followed them at a distance and took down their license plate number. As much as he wanted to get Derek out of there, he knew it was about more than saving one man.

He made his way back to Natalie Martin’s office to update her on what was going on.

“You found something.” Was the first thing she said when she entered.

“I found him.”

Natalie’s eyes went wide as he told her what happened, “He’s probably not going to surface again anytime soon due to his injury, but I have more to go on now. Can you run this plate and the name Peter Hale?”

She went straight to work. Stiles pulled out his deck of cards and set up a game of solitaire while she worked.

“The license plate is registered as a company vehicle for Argent Pharmaceuticals. Never heard of a connection between them and the dollhouse before. And Peter Hale is an army verterin who is now in the private security game. His most recent employer is-”

“Argent Pharmaceuticals?” Stiles guessed and Natalie nodded.

“Looks like this conspiracy might be bigger than we thought if the most powerful pharma company is somehow in the middle of it.”

“It’s strange that Peter would give you his real name,” Natalie pondered, “He must have known you wouldn’t find anything. However, despite the shared last name, there is no relation between Peter and Derek. He used that commonality to his advantage, but you know he’s lying now.”

“I knew he was lying then, I just had to play it smart.” Stiles got up to leave.

“Where are you going?” Natalie asked.

“I’m going to see if I can find someone who has some answers.”

Natalie gave him a doubtful look, but didn’t make any move to stop him.

He found Javier in a run down bar doing some day drinking.

“Here he is, the man who ruined my life.” He said.

Stiles rolled his eyes and took a seat on the barstool next to him, “I have some questions for you.”

“Questions, questions. Always with the questions. Never ‘Hi Javier,’ ‘How ya doing Javier.’”

“What do you know about Argent Pharmaceuticals?”

“They’re rich.” Stiles fixed him with a ‘no joking’ stare and Javier rolled his eyes, “I can’t give you better answers. I was kicked out of the cartel. It’s a miracle I’m still alive.”

“Ever heard the name Derek Hale?” Javier shook his head, “What about Peter Hale?”

“I don’t know anything. I’ve already told you.”

“Good luck on the streets.” Stiles said before getting up and leaving the bar.

He heard Javier scrambling behind him, but he didn’t turn around or acknowledge him. He had no time for a drunk with no intel.

“Wait, you have to help me!” Javier begged once they were outside.

“And why would I do that?” Stiles asked. The more time he wasted on this guy the less time he was spending helping Derek.

“Because you got me into this mess. You made me become your CI and now my life is at risk. I need witness protection or something.”

“Witness protection only works if you have information. If you had anything of value to me you would be dead already.”

He got into his car, leaving Javier sputtering behind him.

When he got home, Lydia was waiting for him by her door and met him in the hallway.

“You’re home early.” She commented as she tucked her light brown hair behind her ear.

“Well, I put in extra hours last night, so I decided to turn in early today. I think a well rested brain is what this problem needs.”

“Do you need to talk it through with anyone?” Lydia asked, “I’ve been told I’m a good listener and an even better problem solver.”

“Do you have any more of that lasagna from last night?”

Lydia smiled and disappeared into her apartment before emerging with a mostly intact pan of lasagna. The two settled in for a laid back evening, Stiles had to admit, it was nice to have someone to come home to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are the names for this chapter. Warnings for potential spoilers:  
> Derek=Wolf, Tad  
> Scott=Javier  
> Malia=Lydia


	3. Chapter 3

Stiles had been running himself ragged. He was looking for any trace of Derek anywhere. His informant, Javier, had disappeared, and he couldn’t find anything suspicious about Argent Pharmaceuticals.

He could tell Lydia was annoyed with how much time Stiles was spending on this. His walls were covered in pictures and documents connected by various colors of string. It made him look like a crazy person, he knew this, but he couldn’t let it go.

“What about strange transactions?” Stiles asked Natalie at their weekly brainstorming session.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean deposits,” Stiles explained, “We know there’s nothing strange in their spending, we’ve looked at that. But what about Investments that look off? I’m not the most financially minded guy, but this has to be the way their clients pay to make it look legitimate.”

“I can take a look, but I can’t guarantee I’ll find anything.” Natalie replied.

She opened her files and started looking through Argent’s bank statements again.

“While we wait for that program to run, I have the results of the fingerprint scans,” She said, “It turns out the only prints on them were yours. Your little friend is good.”

“Well, since that’s a dead end we need this bank statement theory to actually hold some weight.”

Natalie looked back at the screen that was looking for abnormalities in the bank statements.

“You’re in luck, it looks like we’ve got one,” Natalie pulled up the information on the flagged deposits, “Every year for the past five years, Robert Finstock has been ‘investing’ 2.5 million dollars in Argent Pharmaceuticals.”

“Finstock? The guy who made his fortune via sports video games?” Stiles asked, “People with money invest all the time. I need to be sure he’s involved. McCall would not like me going after someone this high profile unless I’m sure.”

“Normally when people invest, it’s a one time thing,” Natalie explained, “For there to be this many payments, it has to be for something else, but masquerading as investments. There is enough here to question him.”

“Any chance you have a location?”

“Hello, Wolf,” Came Peter’s voice, “Would you like a treatment?”

“I enjoy my treatments.” Wolf smiled at Peter. He trusted this man with his life.

He followed Peter to Danny’s office and sat in the chair.

“What’s today’s engagement?” Peter asked.

“It’s another romantic engagement,” Danny responded as he started to run the program, “Hopefully this one stays that way. The past few romantic engagements ended up riskier than he was programmed for.”

“Could you program a contingency?” Peter asked, “Like latent skills that come out only when needed?”

Danny scoffed, “ _ Can _ I do that. Of course I can. I did it to Kitsune last week. And I put in some latent self defense into this wedge. It’s not enough to confuse his persona, but enough that he’ll be able to hold his own if the customer gets violent or another accident happens.”

“Good.” Peter said as the chair started returning to its seated position.

“Can I go see Bobby now? I miss him so much.” 

“Of course we can go see Bobby,” Peter smiled as he looked down at his iPad, “Right this way, Michael. We’ll get you all dolled up so you can go see your husband.”

Michael put on his best suit and got into the front seat of his camaro. He received a text from Bobby asking him to meet up at a random address. He had no clue what his husband had in store for them, but he was excited to see him all the same.

He pulled up to a small residential neighborhood. The houses were on the modest side for LA and the lawns were all perfectly manicured, obviously part of an HOA.

Bobby was waiting outside the house he had asked Michael to meet him at and he was automatically suspicious.

“What did you do, Bobby?” Michael asked.

“Come inside.”

“Inside? Who’s house is this?” Michael demanded.

“Just come on.”

Bobby grabbed his hand and took him inside.

“Is this your way of telling me you’re cheating?” Michael asked, “Is this the himbo’s house? Or is it a bimbo?” He then saw the rose petals on the floor leading up to the bedroom, “Oh, and you have it all set up nice for them. Well good for you!”

“Michael, baby. It’s ours.” Bobby explained.

“What?”

“The video games, they took off,” Bobby reached forward and cupped his check, “Apparently people are more interested in playing virtual lacrosse than we thought. I bought this house with the first check. No mortgage, no debt. Just you and me in our dream house.”

“Oh, baby!” And with that, Michael pulled his husband into a big kiss. It felt like this was their first kiss. They were both so caught up in the euphoria of the moment that neither of them heard the back door open or the sound of a gun cocking.

Michael pulled back to see a gun against his husband’s head. He followed the arm to the man holding the gun. He looked familiar- short brown hair, whiskey brown eyes, insanely attractive- but he couldn’t quite place it.

“What do you think you’re doing, Finstock?” The man asked.

“I’m enjoying my new home with my husband.”

“Your husband died six years ago. What you’re doing now is prostitution.” The man insisted.

“Prostitution?” Michael asked, stepping away from them, “You promised me there wasn’t anyone else and now you’re telling me there’s a prostitute? How could you?”

“Derek wait!” The man called after him, but Michael didn’t respond. That wasn’t his name! He was Michael and he loved his husband, even if he was a cheating bastard. A cheating bastard who had bought him a house.

Michael got in the camaro and drove away, but he didn’t get far before pulling off to the side of the road to have a breakdown. It was all just a lot to process.

Soon there was a knock on the door. It was Peter, so he rolled down his window.

“Would you like a treatment?”

“I enjoy my treatments.”

Stiles kept his gun leveled at Finstock. He again had to remind himself that this was bigger than saving one man. He needed to know what Finstock knew and this was the only chance he had to get that information, no matter how much it pained him to see Derek running out that door.

“Tell me about the dollhouse.” Stiles said.

“What the hell is the dollhouse and who are you?”

“I’m special agent Stilinski with the FBI. And I know you know what the dollhouse is. That man with you was Derek Hale, a confirmed doll. I could take you in for solicitation of a prostitute and contributing to the demand of human trafficking. Now if you want to avoid those charges I suggest you talk.”

“After my husband died, I was new to my fortune,” Finstock started, “This man approached me, saying he could bring my husband back for a day. He told me how the process worked, explained it wouldn’t be my husband’s body, but it would be his mind. Said I could live out my final fantasy. So when my anniversary came, I did it. And it was so wonderful. I had him back. So I did it the next year and then next. The same fantasy each time. The real Michael never even made it to the house. He was on his way here when the accident happened.”

“Touching story. Where is the dollhouse?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been there. All I have is the phone number for the man who first approached me.”

Stiles raised his eyebrow and Finstock huffed, pulling out his phone, “You know, even though I’m helping you now, I’m still reporting you for breaking and entering since you didn’t have a warrant. Also, what happened to the security team I had around the perimeter? I think that falls under unnecessary force. And interrogation at gunpoint? Not a good look.”

Stiles scoffed, “I’ve dealt with worse.”

As he was leaving he texted the number to Natalie. Checking the time, he could tell it was too late to go back into the office, so he’d check on what she found first thing in the morning. When he got home Lydia was waiting with a warm meal and then warmed his bed for the night.

The next morning he got pulled into McCall’s office when he was on his way to see Natalie.

“What’s up, boss?” He asked.

“What’s up?” Based on the vein popping out of Agent McCall’s forehead he could tell that was the wrong thing to ask.

“I have an entire stack of reports filed against you from Robert Finstock. That guy has enough resources that he could bury us in legal paperwork without blinking an eye. What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking I had a solid lead!” Stiles all but yelled, “He had information on the dollhouse. There was a doll there! It was Derek Hale! Finstock gave me a phone number. Natalie was running it.”

“She did run it,” McCall sighed, “She’s been vouching for you this whole time, but this one she couldn’t back you up on.”

“What do you mean?” Stiles asked.

“The phone number was for a retirement home. The same place Finstock took his mother for care. He gave you a bogus number because you were harassing him over nothing.”

“Sir, I swear he’s connected to all of this! He knows the dollhouse!”

“The dollhouse isn’t real, Stiles!”

“Then why-”

“No one wanted to work with you. Said you got overly invested in your cases. Would call your partners late at night with crazy theories. I gave you this assignment to try and help you grow up. Learn how things worked without interfering with real cases, but with this latest behavior I can’t just look the other way. You’re suspended until further notice.”

“But sir-”

“No buts, Stiles. Turn in your badge and gun.”

When Stiles left the building, it was to the laughs and sneers of his former coworkers. But he wouldn’t let this be a set back. He had leads and now he wasn’t held back by the red tape of the bureau.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading what I have so far!  
> Just a reminder,   
> Derek=Michael, Wolf  
> Scott=Javier, Beta  
> Kira=Kitsune  
> Malia=Lydia  
> I forgot to mention this one in chapter 1, but Breaden=Dr. Deaton  
> Comments and kudos are appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> Scott= Javier, Beta  
> Derek= Wolf, Ian  
> Malia= Lydia  
> Braedan= Dr. Deaton


End file.
